Online Ed.D. in Educational Leadership

APPLY NOW

Computer icon representing program format

100% Online

Book icon representing number of credits

51 Credits

$584/cr.

Calendar icon representing admissions deslines

Applications Accepted December 15, 2025–January 31, 2026 (May Session Start Only)

About the Program

The University of Maine’s 100% online Ed.D. in Educational Leadership is for experienced educators ready to take the next step in their professional and academic careers. Students will deepen their understanding of schools, districts, state and national policy, and leadership practice in PreK-12 schools.

Cohort Model

In a cohort model, students take all their classes together while working toward their degrees. Cohorts allow students to learn from their peers and professors in a collaborative environment.

The cohort meets weekly throughout the program, including during the dissertation phase, ensuring ongoing support from peers and faculty during the program’s independent research portion.

Contact Us

Have questions about earning your Ed.D. in Educational Leadership online with UMaine? Contact a UMaineOnline advisor.

Amanda Hafford, M.Ed.

Assistant Director of DLL Advising Center & Student Support

207.370.4199
amanda.hafford@maine.edu

Schedule a Meeting

Curriculum

All courses are synchronous, and meet once per week via Zoom.

EHD 676: Doctoral Seminar in Educational Administration (3 credits) Summer
EHD 602: Directed Readings (3 credits) Fall
EHD 690: Topics in Education (Foundations of Inquiry) (3 credits) Fall
EAD 653: Statistics for Scholarly Practitioners (3 credits) Spring
EAD 654: Educational Policy Formulation and Analysis (3 credits) Spring

EHD 661: Sociology of Education (3 credits) Summer
EAD 655: Qualitative Analysis for Scholarly Practitioners (3 credits) Fall
EAD 647: Organizational Learning and Development (3 credits) Fall
EAD 660: The Adult Learner in PreK-12 Education (3 credits) Spring
EAD 661: Advanced Educational Supervision (3 credits) Spring

EAD 698: Special Topics in Educational Leadership (3 credits) Summer
EAD 648: Responsible Conduct of Research in Education (3 credits) Fall
EAD 663: Dissertation Proposal (3 credits) Fall
EAD 664: Dissertation I (3 credits) Spring

EAD 665: Dissertation II (3 credits) Summer
EAD 667: Dissertation III (3 credits) Fall
EAD 668: Dissertation IV (2 credits) Spring
EHD 699: Graduate Thesis/Research (1 credit) Spring

Admissions

Applications for the summer term (or session) are accepted from December 15 through January 31.

A master’s degree in education or a related field with at least 30 credits with a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale
Current employment in a school, community agency, or other educational role or setting that allows access to the data necessary to investigate your problem of practice

Before you apply, please review the application instructions. When you’re ready to apply, please submit the following:

An online application
Current résumé or CV detailing your education and leadership experience
Official transcripts from all schools you attended outside of the University of Maine System
A one-page essay of approximately 250 words describing your leadership experience, especially in educational contexts
A two to three-page essay of approximately 500-750 words to help the faculty understand your experiences and perspectives around your problem of practice. You may write from the first-person point of view (“In my experience . . .”, etc.). Please include:
- A description of the problem of practice you may wish to study and its relevance to educational leadership
- Discussion of the contributing factors that exacerbate the problem and what may be done to address the problem (i.e., how to bridge the theory-practice gap contributing to the problem of practice).
  Note: Although this is not intended to be a research paper, please cite any sources you may use to inform your thinking around this exercise.
  Note: Please do not use AI to generate either of the required essays. Submissions will be screened for originality prior to faculty review.
Three signed professional letters of recommendation
We do not need a letter from a former professor or academic advisor, although these are welcome.